Tigers stick to same miserable road script

The road woes of the Pacific men's basketball team continued Wednesday at UC Irvine, following a familiar script.

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By The Record

recordnet.com

By The Record

Posted Feb. 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM

By The Record
Posted Feb. 21, 2013 at 12:01 AM

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The road woes of the Pacific men's basketball team continued Wednesday at UC Irvine, following a familiar script.

The Tigers got off to a terrible start, shot poorly throughout and their defense was bad as well in a 68-59 loss to the Anteaters before 825 at Bren Events Center.

Pacific (15-11, 9-5 Big West Conference) played without junior forward Ross Rivera, who had battled illness all week and was diagnosed with pneumonia Wednesday and will be sent back to Stockton today.

The Tigers fell behind 15-6 to the Anteaters (15-13, 9-6) and led just once in the game, while shooting 33.3 percent from the field and making just 4 of 17 from 3-point range.

"They just outplayed us," Pacific coach Bob Thomason said. "They passed, shot and rebounded better. There wasn't even one starter for us that played even below average. You're not going to win road games when that happens."

Pacific's starters - Lorenzo McCloud, Sama Taku, Colin Beatty, Travis Fulton and Khalil Kelley - combined for 22 points on 7-of-29 shooting. The Tigers were kept in the game by the play off the bench by center Tony Gill and forward Jordan Turner. Gill matched a season-high with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Turner, a senior walk-on, collected a career-high seven rebounds in 24 minutes.

"We missed shots and defensive assignments, especially in transition, and they got going," Gill said. "Down the stretch, we didn't do the things we needed to win."

The Anteaters, 8-0 at home in conference, saw four starters reach double-digits with Daman Starring notching 16 points. UC Irvine shot 45.5 percent for the game and 8 of 16 on 3-pointers.

The Tigers are now 2-8 on the road and 11-2 at Spanos Center. Their next three games are on the road, with a trip to Western Michigan for a BracketBuster game at 10 a.m. Saturday. Pacific now has a half-game lead over Hawaii and the Anteaters for second place and trails Long Beach State (17-9, 13-2) by 31/2 games.

"Maybe we just are a bad road team," Thomason said. "We have to get more poise, confidence and belief we can do it on the road."